PAT CAPUTO: Improving Pistons open season Wednesday

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The Pistons have seen rock bottom, and discovered it isn’t pleasant.

There was uncertainty across the board from the players to the front office to ownership.

There was horrible performance on the floor, which included unusual dysfunction, even by the standards of the NBA, during the last season guppy-in-a-shark-tank, John Kuester, was head coach. Lawrence Frank brought order from the beginning, but not immediate success. The low point came last Feb. 1 when the Pistons lost in overtime to the Nets, dropping their record to 4-20.

Don’t remember? You’re not alone. It’s one thing for a professional sports franchise to invoke outrage. It’s another to garner no response at all.

The Pistons couldn’t have been more under the radar if buried at the Earth’s core.

While few have been paying attention, the Pistons will open their season Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets at The Palace tonight with renewed optimism.

It’s genuine, too, not just typical hokum based on the fresh beginning of a new season.

The Pistons were 21-21 their final 42 games last season. Greg Monroe continued to progress to the point where he is no longer viewed as merely a solid selection at 7th overall in the draft. He is a very good player, potentially one of the NBA’s top big men. Rookie point guard Brandon Knight played in all 66 games. He is proving he should have been selected much sooner than 8th overall. The Pistons were fortunate he fell in their lap.

Guard Rodney Stuckey had been part of the Pistons’ problem. It was both understandable and iffy when President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars signed him to an eight-year, $32 million contract extension before last season. It was understandable because Stuckey can drive to the basket like few guards in the league, iffy because he seemed only do so when it suited him. Last season, he was much better, and more than any other player gauged whether the Pistons would win or lose on a given night.

The Pistons labored defensively last season because they were lacking somebody to protect the basket. First-round draft pick Andre Drummond is the definition of raw talent, but he is capable of doing what nobody else on the Pistons last season could consistently do. He will block shots. Last year, aging Ben Wallace was the Pistons’ leading shot blocker with less than one per game.

On the eve of his opener, Frank brought out all the clichés. He never talks about the playoffs, at least that’s what he said. Monroe? Knight? They are no more important to the Pistons’ cause than Will Bynum, trainer Mike Abdenour, Mason at the PA and the lady who delivers Rick Mahorn his courtside chocolate cookies during commercial breaks.

He did gush about Drummond’s attitude.

“It’s not just his athleticism, it’s that he is so coachable,” Frank said.

If that, indeed, proves to be true, the Pistons are building a team with a chance, not only because they have some good players in the fold, but they will play hard and work to get better.

It is an underrated aspect in the NBA, because it has gained a reputation, albeit unfairly most of time, as the league of perpetual children, and the circuit where the league office dictates the powerful teams (Yeah, right, sure Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are magically Lakers).

Lost in this view is how many genuinely strong teams have emerged because they simply do things right. A few NBA championship versions of the Pistons are proof. The Spurs certainly fall in that category.

The end of last season should help the Pistons this season.

“We have touched our guys for a season,” Frank said. “We have a foundation built. It’s a lot easier to acclimate five or six new players than 12.”

I see the Pistons making the playoffs this season. I see it as the first step of a process in which the local NBA franchise will mean something again to this town.

The Pistons haven’t wasted their time under the radar.

We’ll see how quickly it pays off starting tonight.

Pat Caputo is a columnist. Contract him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his blog at theoaklandpress.com. You can follow him on Twitter @patcaputo98